Oct 29 2011

New Looks, New Site, New Mashup

Category: Amsterdam,PersonalChrisM @ 12:42 am

CeltPhotographic has had a redesign, it now uses a theme geared towards people like John who publish a lot of photos in their posts. I think I’ll be re-using the theme on Anna and Tim’s sites.
Which reminds me, I’m not sure if I’ve already mentioned it on this blog, but Tim has his own site, like Anna, which can be found at TimMerriman.com. Like his big sister’s it automatically pulls photos and videos of Anna or Tim from this blog and then re-publishes them.
I have also added a new map to the Amsterdam page. It uses a KML file of the coffeeshops I recommend visiting and zooms in a little (if you scroll around, you’ll find a few more in more outlying areas.) FWIIW, I’ve not updated the research since 2008/9 really.

View Larger Map

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Nov 05 2010

Scanning Your Blog

Category: WordPressChrisM @ 11:51 pm

This is it! The last WordPress plug-in review for a little while at least, as I have reached the end of the list of plug-ins I use across my different sites. If you don’t run a blog, apologies for this barrage of posts on a topic that doesn’t necessarily interest you. If you’ve come here expecting news about Kazakhstan, I’ll be trying to revive that category soon (though nothing controversial for about 6 months as I need to get my residency permit renewed next yet). If you have been waiting for more Amsterdam based posts, you’ll probably be waiting a few years for any personal reports from that city (see a post from earlier today). Finally, if the “Aware Or Conspiracy Nut” or book review categories were the reason you started coming here, I agree they’ve both been very neglected in recent years. I’ll try and revive them too some time.
Anyway, back to the reason for this post’s existence – WP Security Scan. It is a plug-in written by the same author as the All in One SEO Pack I mentioned a while back. Instead of trying to get you the best possible results in search engine rankings though, it scans through the files, folders and settings of your WordPress install, and draws your attention to any errors, lax security rules in place or other settings that need your attention. Some are automatically corrected, whilst others will require your manual intervention. If you want to ensure you reduce the likelihood of your blog being hacked, download it today, and make sure you follow the author’s advice when it comes to changing settings.

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Nov 05 2010

Amsterdam Page Updated

Category: Amsterdam,In The MediaChrisM @ 12:29 am

Someone (who I assume wanted to remain anonymous) e-mailed me asking for my POI (Points Of Interest) files for Amsterdam. Although these still haven’t been tidied up (they were originally only intended for personal use), I had already put links up for the KML formatted versions of these files on the Amsterdam page here at this site. As this person wanted them for his TomTom, I have converted the latest versions to OV2 files, as well as GPX (as he requested), and added links to these on the page.

As ever, you are welcome to the files for personal use, however if they are to be used for profit in anyway, please do contact me for further discussion first.
Since Anna was born, trips to Amsterdam have been off the table, so any updates could take a while to get done. If anyone wants the files updated more quickly, and would like me to do it, please cover the cost of : flights (TSE<>AMS), accommodation, a full time nanny for Anna whilst I’m away and the biggest bunch of flowers, box of chocolates and a meal out to try and persuade Irina it is a good idea (99.5% joking) 🙂
If you plan to visit Amsterdam, and the number 420 means something to you, you may well want to visit sooner rather than later, as reports are coming in that the government over there is once again attempting to tighten controls on the grey area of selling something that is decriminalized for personal use, but still illegal to trade large amounts of. See here for a BBC article on the subject. There have been similar reports for years, but as the number of CS slowly decline, there may well come a day when my GPS files are of no use at all 🙁

Oh, and before I forget, I’ll be posting up the video that some kind soul has put on YouTube of Karra’s TV appearance, and also posting more Anna photos and videos very soon. If not tonight, then tomorrow.

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May 14 2010

Green And Thin

Category: AmsterdamChrisM @ 4:07 pm

OK, I’ve added and updated some more information on the Amsterdam page here at this blog. I wanted to check some of the information (definitely still need to update a few links), before re-publishing them, as I knew some sites had closed and others had changed URLs for some areas.

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Apr 23 2010

Amsterdam Page

Category: AmsterdamChrisM @ 5:27 pm

OK, one more quick post, I have finally got around to starting an Amsterdam specific page. Check the list of pages at the top of this site, or click directly through here.
Firefox and probably other non-IE browsers still show the 2nd widget column below the main content, and there isn’t yet a lot of new information on there, other than links to some GPS POI files I’ve created.

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Mar 25 2010

Smoking Tewksbury’s Audio Problems in Kazakhstan

Category: PersonalChrisM @ 7:33 am

Firstly, to Dick, I’m sorry for not approving and replying to your comment on the Amsterdam GPS post – I haven’t had the time to sort the files for you yet, as they are still on a hard drive in Kazakhstan. I’ll try and get back to you next week. I’m guessing you are the person who searched for “amsterdam coffechop POI” , “amsterdam coffeeshop gpx” and a few other related terms? I was reading through the list of recent searches that bought people to these posts and noticed that Tewksburys Floods (from a few years ago), Kazakhstan, Amsterdam and audio problems involving some Sonic Focus drivers. I really must try applying that update again on my XP install at home sometime. I’ve not broken anything (config wise) in a long time, maybe I shouldn’t push my luck?

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Dec 17 2009

Chewy Blurry Pot(s)

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 11:42 pm

No Amsterdam related posts for a while to come sadly, this is a few photos from the 7th of October with Anna enjoying her stacking pots. Although she has recently started putting them together and extracting them from each other, they were originally used pretty much as chewy toys.

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Dec 09 2009

Wet Sound

Category: PersonalChrisM @ 11:24 pm

OK, so having checked through SEO SearchTerms 2’s output so far,

sonic focus drivers must be loaded for this application to work
sonic focus drivers must be installed for this application to work
tewksbury flood 2007
intel audio studio sonic focus drivers must be loaded for this application to work
funny double barrelled names
happy birthday
tewksbury floods 2007
sonic focus drivers must be loaded
sonic drivers must be loaded for this application to work
linkedin problems
alreader2 english
twitpic badge
pocketwitter
alreader english
poi amsterdam
intel audio studio controller sonic focus drivers
spitoons
green tea asthma
Free Bed Plans
skype scams
funny links
Funny Double Barrelled Surnames
intel audio studio sonic focus drivers must loaded application work
intel audio studio controller sonic focus drivers must be loaded
green tea and asthma
intel audio studio controller sonic focus drivers must be loaded for this application to work
BBC Prime keys
Executable PHP widget
free log bed plans
karabatan
free waterbed plans
barcorama
intel sonic focus drivers must be loaded for this application to work
intel audio studio controller sonic focus
happy birthday cat
tewksbury flood 2007

have all brought people to this site.

I’ve stopped at the point where search terms only bought me less than 10 visitors since I installed the plugin. You can see from the list that the sonic focus drivers error message that I encountered a long time ago are by far and away the biggest crowd pulled, closely followed by the floods in Gloucestershire (specifically Tewksbury) back in 2007. That second one is all down to Irina spotting some photos online that other people seem to find interesting, I guess.

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Jul 08 2009

Amsterdam 2007 Photos #9

Category: Amsterdam,Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 2:55 am

Finally, we have a last shot of Cocos, and a pure pre-roll of something from somewhere. I’m hoping to eventually find my notes from the trip, and I’ll then be able to change vague descriptions like that to something a little more specific.
Amsterdam Chris Merriman AlexC ChrisD 2007
Shock, horror, something schmokable in the next picture, so….

Continue reading “Amsterdam 2007 Photos #9”

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Jul 06 2009

Amsterdam 2007 Photos #8

Category: Amsterdam,Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 2:07 pm

Next we have a typical sight around the streets – someone passed out, not appearing to move at all. (Shots taken out the fire exit, still in Coco’s Outback Steakhouse.) Eventually someone saw he was moving, and therefore not about to die probably. He makes the transition from lying down on a stone slab, to sitting up, to proudly making it to a cafe table and chair!

Amsterdam Chris Merriman AlexC ChrisD 2007
Amsterdam Chris Merriman AlexC ChrisD 2007
Amsterdam Chris Merriman AlexC ChrisD 2007

Wow, tried to find the restaurant on Google Maps, and several candidates presented themselves. Until Alex or Chris can provide clarification, or I find that notebook, I’ll not publish the map.

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